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Master the Course: IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene

The inside scoop on racing one of the most popular courses.

by Ryan Schneider

Amidst all the excitement about gorgeous newcomers on the North American race circuit, such as Mont Tremblant, Whistler and Lake Tahoe, IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene has offered the same kind of idyllic alpine race year after year. Want to swim in a crystal-clear, calm lake? Coeur d’Alene’s nickname is Lake City. Craving some crisp, alpine weather? Coeur d’Alene’s got that too—while maintaining an average 72-degree temperature during race month (June). For the elevation-averse, the city of Coeur d’Alene rests only 2,180 feet above sea level.

That’s not what makes the IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene race experience truly special. Having raced the course in 2011, it felt like the entire town of near 50,000 residents populated the race course, supporting every last finisher. One of those residents saved my bike ride by offering me an Otter Pop and an Advil at around mile 65 when it was clear I was suffering from cramps. (I hope this disclosure won’t result in a retroactive penalty.)

That wasn’t the only challenge I faced in Coeur d’Alene that day. I lost my watch during the swim, forcing me to race the rest of the day purely on feel. Thanks to solid course marking and sticking to my race plan, I finished almost exactly when my coach predicted.

To ensure your IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene race experience fares even better than mine, here are tips for how to prepare for and execute each phase of the race.

Swim

The IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene swim course is two loops, with a brief run on the beach between the first and second loop. Be prepared for a chilly swim, as the water temperature can fluctuate between the 50s and low 60s. When I participated, the temperature was 53 degrees. Practice swims in the days leading to the race are a must. There’s no need to swim longer than 10 to 20 minutes though. On race day, I borrowed booties, used a neoprene skin cap and applied Vaseline to my lips and cheeks. I would recommend tinted goggles, as the course is counter-clockwise so on the return trip to shore for each loop, if you breathe to the right, the sun will be in your eyes. Thanks to the clear water, finding feet to draft off was also much easier.

Bike

With nearly 6,000 feet of total climbing, the IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene bike route is on the challenging side. It’s a two-loop course, with a portion covering the lakefront marathon route while most of the riding takes you west towards the Idaho-Washington border and back to town via Highway 95. Overall, the climbing is deceptive in that you won’t find hills with menacing nicknames like "Nasty Grade" or "The Wall"—though the 1.5-mile Cougar Gulch climb on Highway 95 comes close. It’s the collective undulation of rolling hills that sap both body and mind. When I rode the course, I remember feeling like it was hard to stay in a steady rhythm. This makes Variable Intensity or VI data especially important to consider. Included here is a link to age-grouper Garrett Harvey's power file, provided courtesy of Training Peaks. Notice the 1.03-1.05 VI, indicative of a well-paced overall ride. (Harvey went on to take the top spot in the men’s 35-39 age group, thanks to a blistering 4:56:49 bike split.) For some female representation, click here to view Carla Schubiger's file from the same day (Figure 1, below). She too paced her bike well, finishing with a 1.03 VI.

Figure 1:

Having raced climbing-intensive courses such as IRONMAN St. George and IRONMAN Lake Tahoe in addition to Coeur d’Alene, I recommend focusing on higher cadence on the ascents and less on powering over each roller. In reviewing the power files, both cyclists maintained an overall healthy 80 to 83 cadence through the ride while keeping their power output to roughly between two-thirds to three-quarters of their respective FTP. Even on the climbs, neither flirted with reaching their peak threshold. That’s good discipline.

Run

My favorite part of IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene was running through the neighborhood prior to reaching East Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive and heading along the lakefront bike path. The course is two loops, which means four chances to revel in what feels like throngs of locals hanging out on their porches or balconies blasting music and shouting encouragement.

The course is not very technical, though it features a roughly two-thirds mile steady climb from between mile 5 and 6 and again between mile 18 and 19. Overall, the course features approximately 800-plus feet of total elevation gain. On both loops, you will run up that lakefront hill, down, turn around at the bottom and return back up. While that may sound daunting, I found that the key to a successful Coeur d’Alene marathon is not getting too excited when running through the neighborhood fiesta scene, pacing the first loop climb and saving a little extra for the second loop. Full disclosure, I didn’t do any of those things and paid the price towards the end of the run. Also keep in mind that what goes up must come down, and the second loop descent will definitely impact your quads, so make sure you’re taking in plenty of electrolytes on the bike course and throughout the run. And make sure you’re doing those hill repeats during training sessions.

Of course, the best part of any IRONMAN is the finisher’s chute, and IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene’s final quarter-mile is spectacular. After making a left turn onto Sherman Avenue, you’ll see the chute hundreds of yards in front of you, yet the streets are lined with cheering fans the entire way leading up to it. Instead of a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, you’ll have plenty of time to savor your accomplishment.

The second-best part of any IRONMAN comes after the race. I’ve completed five IRONMAN events, and IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene offered the best finisher's experience. I was able to immediately soak my weary legs in Lake Coeur d’Alene, where my day had begun several hours before. There, in the soothing water watching a peak-summertime sunset, I was able to bask in my moment, take in all the beauty… and think about which IRONMAN I wanted to check off my wish list next.